WK: Power of Nature - S2 - Ep 09 - No Tears for Fears
by Taismo-89
Summary: When Martin nearly drowns in the Gulf of Mexico, he becomes afraid of the water, like Chris got once afraid of heights, but when Gourmand plots to make turtle soup, the Water Guardian must record what it really means to be brave. Collab with Soul Rider.


The team was visiting the Gulf of Mexico. The sun was starting to set.

"They're coming soon, guys. Just a little more..." Martin told them.

"Since the Tortuga Tune-Up adventure, I have never been so excited about seeing sea turtles!" Aviva said.

"Especially when they're BABY sea turtles?" Chris asked excitedly.

"I bet they're so cute!" Mina said.

"We'll take a good look at the baby sea turtles getting to the sea for the first time," Chris said. "Incubation takes about two months. The eggs in one nest hatch together over a very short period of time. When ready, hatchlings tear their shells apart with their snout and dig through the sand. Once they reach the surface, they instinctively head towards the sea. If, as happens on rare occasions, hatching takes place during daylight, only a very small proportion of each hatch succeed, because local opportunistic predators, such as seagulls, gorge on the new sea turtles."

"Wow, that's very sad," Koki commented.

"That's why hatching usually takes place at night," Martin explained. "To avoid predators from eating them."

"Look!" Mina pointed out to a spot in the sand. "Something's moving! Quick, send the flycams, Koki!"

"Okay. Sending flycams to sea turtle nest!" Koki pressed a button on her Creaturepod. Three flycams flew out of the buzz bikes the team used and they dove into the nest.

"They've already hatched!" Martin cheered. Some little heads popped out of the sand.

"Awww…" Aviva said, as the baby turtles climbed up. "_Ay, que lindos_!"

"They're so adorable!" Mina squealed. "What kind are they, brothers?"

"Let's see... a black shell... rigid top... white places..." Chris observed the traits. He gasped in glee. "They're-"

"Leatherback sea turtles!" both brothers exclaimed at the same time.

"There are no turtles in the forest. At least, I never have seen one," the bat admitted.

"They usually live near water, right?" Clarissa asked.

"Sometimes," Martin said. He carefully picked up one of the little turtles, seeing it was heading to the wrong direction. "Welcome to the world, little... um... any name suggestions?"

"Spike?" Mina asked.

"Taken," they all said.

"Jubilee?" Koki suggested.

"Nah."

"Armor?" Clarissa suggested.

"Nah."

"_Hernan_?" Aviva suggested.

"Nah."

"Crunchy?" Jimmy asked.

"Crunchy?" they all asked Jimmy, finding the name strange.

"How about... Martin?" Bite-Size suggested.

"There's already a lion cub named Martin," Aviva pointed out.

"Oh... well, worth a try," the bat said.

They soon heard the sea's sound. The sound of a... "Wave!" they all concluded.

"Your name will be Wave!" Martin agreed. The crew observed the little sea turtle. "And there he goes. Instinctively heading to the sea."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a rather familiar boat was approaching the beach. Gourmand's boat!<p>

"Sea critters, come to Gaston!" Gourmand himself chuckled. When he saw the Tortuga, he took out his binoculars. That's when he noticed the baby turtles.

"Oh, I know what my special will be today! Baby turtle soup with their shells as the bowls!" He laughed evilly at that.

* * *

><p>*BG music: The Primitives - Crash*<p>

"Okay, let's follow these little turtles on their first exploration!" Martin said once he got his diving gear on.

"We're with ya, bro!" Chris answered, fully ready with his Manta Rider. Coming with them were Clarissa and Mina.

"Hey! There goes Wave!" Mina pointed out. The little turtle they named was already a couple of feet from the beach.

"Let's go!" With that, the four siblings made their way to the water. Once they were four feet from shore, they took off on their riders. They quickly caught up to their turtle buddy.

"Hey Wave!" Martin greeted. "Thought we could join you as you go out to sea!" The baby turtle looked at them before continuing seaward.

"Let's swim with the baby turtles!" Martin cheered.

"I'll work on the sea turtle suit. I'll upgrade it so it'll also be compatible to different sea turtles," Aviva called on their Creaturepods.

The crew soon was enjoying the sea water around them. Suddenly, Chris saw something coming.

"Whoa! Huge waves! We gotta head back!" Chris and the others hurried to escape the rough water.

"Whew, that was close!" Clarissa exclaimed as they made it to shore.

"Wait, where's Martin?" Aviva asked in concern. The boy teen looked out to sea.

"There he goes! Heading to the ocean!" David said. Martin was caught in a current. The Kratt in green gasped when a wave coming at his bro.

"Martin, look out!" Chris called as a wave came towards him. Martin looked and immediately dived. However, the force of when it crashed caused him to lose grip of his Manta Rider.

"Oh no! My Manta Rider!" He looked around, but didn't see it. Suddenly, another wave came down, causing him to tumble in the water. His helmet slipped off his face. "My helmet!" Needing to breathe, he kicked hard to get above water.

Martin gasped for air when he surfaced. But he didn't have long before another wave crashed down on him, pulling him back under.

"Martin...! Martin...!" he heard the faint voices of his siblings calling. His vision was blurring up. Everything around him began to get dark as he sank, weak from lack of oxygen.

_'G-guys...'_ he couldn't even think clearly. _'I... I can't...'_ Before he blacked out, he saw the silhouettes of three people on Manta Riders coming his way. His three little siblings were still calling his name.

"Martin...!"

Chris managed to reach him in time and grabbed his wrist. His little sisters helped him get Martin to the surface and back to shore.

"Sweet mother of Hera! Is he okay?" David asked in worry.

"I don't know! He already blacked out when we reached him!" Chris laid Martin on the sand.

Martin started coughing up the water in his lungs once he regained consciousness. Mina and Chris helped him sit up. Once all the water was out, the eldest sibling gasped for air.

"You're okay Martin. You're okay." Once Martin caught his breath, he smiled.

"Thanks bro." Martin got onto his feet, Chris and Mina close in case he fell. "Those waves were rough. But there wasn't even a storm. There's barely any rough water in the gulf."

"Looks like we got a mystery. The Mystery of the Rough Gulf. Let's go." Chris grabbed his Manta Rider and headed to the sea. Martin followed, but when the water reached his ankles, he froze. He gasped at the water and looked out into the gulf. A big wave crashed down. His heart pounded so loud he could hear it.

"Martin?" Mina asked in concern.

"Martin, what's the matter?" Chris questioned, moving back up to shore.

"I... I can't," the Water Guardian murmured while backing up onto the dry sand.

"What?"

"I can't go out there."

"What? But you're the swimming brother. You should be wanting to get out into the water. Come on." Chris grabbed his brother's wrist and started pulling him to the sea. But when Martin saw some waves coming, he panicked.

"No!" He yanked his wrist out of his grasp.

"Wow, he looks like you in the Flight of the Draco adventure. Only not that exaggerated," Koki observed.

"Martin... are you... afraid of the water?" David asked.

"*sigh* You got it right. I think I am a little, teeny, tiny... afraid," Martin said.

Chris sighed. "I know the feeling, bro. If you want... you can wait for us here on the beach. If anything happens, we'll call you."

"Okay." Martin sighed, seeing his brother and the rest of the team leave.

Aviva saw Martin sitting on the sand, and felt bad for him. "And I was going to ask him to test the new improvements to the sea turtle suit. Oh well..."

* * *

><p>"Now to wait for those salty turtles." Gourmand set his ghost net. Little did he know is that the Wild Kratts were close to that place, trying to find a clue to the Mystery of the Rough Gulf.<p>

"The water's really thrashing down there," Elsa said. "I wonder if Uncle Poseidon's ticked off about something. Probably a fight with his brothers again."

"I don't think it's Uncle Poseidon, sis," Mina responded. "He seemed really peaceful last time we saw him."

Gourmand heard their voices. "Huh?" He looked to see they were close to his boat. "Ugh, those Wild Kratt croutons here! They're always keeping me from trying new delicacies!" He thought for a moment. "Hmm… maybe I just need to be smarter then… this time they won't bother me..."

* * *

><p>Martin sighed sadly as he looked out onto the sea. The moon was full and was beginning to rise. The moon's gravity was pulling on the sea, making the tide rise a bit.<p>

"I used to love swimming under the moonlight," he muttered to himself. "But now..." He grunted in sadness, and crossed his arms. "Unbelievable... the swimming Kratt afraid of swimming..."

"It can't be THAT bad now… can it?" Aviva asked, approaching the beach with the M.I.K. and her necklace.

"It is. I can't even step in it without my knees locking up. What kind of Water Guardian is afraid of water?" Martin lamented.

Suddenly, they saw the sand from the empty turtle nest moving. They knelt down for a closer look, and a little black head poked out. Martin and Aviva gasped.

"One last leatherback. Why didn't this one hatch along with its brothers or sisters?" The baby turtle looked at the moon, then the sea. It got out of the sand, but turned around and started to go farther up shore.

"Hey, where are you going?" Martin lightly chuckled as he gently picked up the baby. He turned it so it faced the sea. "Home is that way." The Water Guardian placed the turtle down, but it did the same thing.

"Huh? Come on, little guy. Home is in the other direction," Aviva said. They activated their Animal Comprehension power.

"N-no!" they heard HER say in fright. "B-big! Dawk! Scawy!"

"It's a girl!" Martin noticed. "*gasp* Then Wave's also a girl!" The lone turtle looked up at him.

"Wave?"

"One of your sisters... my friends went with her, not only to investigate something, but also to take a look at the sea turtles' first exploring." Martin's eyes filled up with tears. "I wish I was there... but I can't..."

"Why?"

"I'm... I'm scared. Just like you..." Martin admitted. "They haven't even called yet... and it's way dark. I wonder what happened…"

He then noticed a little white spot on her. The Water Guardian chuckled. "Well, you don't see a leatherback with a spotted tail everyday. And it's so shiny. Like a pearl." He gasped before picking her up again, only this time so she's facing him. "I'll name you Pearl!"

"Peawl?"

"PeaRl. With an R," Martin giggled.

"P-peawl," the baby turtle tried repeating.

"Okay, okay. I'm Martin. Can you say Martin?" he asked her.

"M-maw… tin." The two humans chuckled at her try.

"Okay, close enough."

"Awww… her voice is so cute..." Aviva cooed. "Can I have her help to upgrade the sea turtle suit?"

"Sure," Martin said. "And she'll probably be able to say your name, after all, Aviva don't have an R in it."

"A- Avi- Aviva..." Pearl said.

"Told ya. You have it easy." Aviva giggled.

* * *

><p>"Anything?" David asked.<p>

"Nothing. But we saw Gourmand's boat closer to the shore," Koki said.

"Gourmand?" David asked.

"An enemy of ours. Always trying to cook endangered species," Chris said,

"Wait. Leatherback sea turtles are endangered?" Mina asked.

"Oh, no! They are!" Jimmy said. "According to research, it has been estimated that 11,000 marine turtles are caught in nets every year. Many of them are leatherbacks."

"So Gourmand must be after them too," Chris said. "Let's take a look, just to be sure." The crew nodded and they hurried to Gourmand's boat.

Chris and the crew observed quietly as Gourmand pulled his net up. "Ah-hah! I have my ingredients." He observed the baby sea turtles.

"*gasp* No!" Chris gasped, and Koki shushed him. Then, once he freed the sea turtles into his water tank, he turned around and threw it right in the Wild Kratts 'direction.

"Oh, no!" Mina gasped. "It was a trap."

"Ah-ha! I knew you would come after these little critters somehow!" Gourmand laughed. "Now you can't do anything to stop me!"

But Gourmand didn't notice one of the turtles he forgot to trap inside the water tank escaping. It was Wave. Wave swam as fast as she could back to the beach she was born on.

* * *

><p>"Let's try again," Martin told Pearl. "MaR... tin."<p>

"M-Maw... tin," Pearl tried.

"Help! Help!" Wave called out to the three on the beach. Martin looked out onto the moon shimmering sea and spotted a black dot coming towards them. When it came closer, the Water Guardian recognized it.

"Wave?"

"Human… fwiends… twouble...!" Wave struggled to say something. "Big… human… sistews… cooking!"

"Gourmand!" Martin thought. "Only HE would try to cook poor creatures like this." Suddenly, they heard a seagull call. The little turtles looked up and screamed. Wave started turning back to the water, but Pearl dragged herself to Martin.

"Huh?" Wave waved to her sister.

"Oh, yeah... Wave, Pearl. Pearl, Wave," Martin introduced them both. "Pearl's afraid of getting in the water." The seagull tried swooping down to Wave, but Martin swatted it away. "And you! Get lost!" Frightened, the bird flew away.

Wave stared at her. "Hmm... afwaid? It's fun."

"It's dawk! Too dawk!"

Wave rubbed her head on her little sister's head. "Swimming fun! Come on!" The elder turtle headed for the sea again. Martin nudged Pearl from behind softly to follow.

"Pwease… come."

Martin was going to say no, until he saw the baby turtle's worried stare. He sighed, and smiled at her, following them both. The younger sea creature hesitated before putting a flipper in the water. She stared in amazement before rushing in.

"Wow… fun!" she exclaimed.

Wave giggled. Then she noticed Martin not coming in. "Afwaid too?"

"Well... I didn't used to until earlier today," he confessed.

"Fwying thing scawy. You sent it away," Pearl said.

"Well... you girls needed my help. I couldn't let that bird do harm to you guys. You're my... friends..."

Martin then looked at the sea turtle sisters, remembering those words. He saw the two sea turtles' shells shine blue in the moonlight. Then, his eyes glowed blue as well. He gasped of realization.

"Martin?" Aviva called.

"I gotta save them!"

"Martin, wait! Look!" He looked at the horizon to see no more big waves.

"The waves calmed down? But why?" He noticed that Pearl had poked her head into the sand. Then, she pulled something glowing out with her mouth.

"Pearl, what's that in your mouth?" The little turtle had a small, beautiful blue crystal in her mouth.

"Wough watah," Wave explained. "Gwowing thing… made watah wough." When Pearl dropped the jewel into his hand, he felt a surge of power. His medallion started to glow harshly and the snowflake symbol appeared. His body was covered in a blue light.

"*gasp* _Dios mio_."

* * *

><p>The Wild Kratts stared at Gourmand, trapped into a cage.<p>

"Now, it's time to start boiling some turtles." Gourmand then laughed. Before he could turn on the burner, a huge shadow draped over his boat.

"Huh?" He and the team looked. It looked like a giant tidal wave, but it wasn't moving. And someone was standing on top of it. The person had something like a staff in hand that had rings floating around it. Behind the silhouette was a long cape made of a thin, see through material. Something glittered on the person's forehead.

"What in the world?"

"Is that...?" Clarissa started, recognizing the person's body shape. The figure jumped down from the wave and landed on the boat's deck with one hand of the ground. Upon contact, a small range of the floor was frozen.

"Ice..." Chris murmured. His eyes widened. "It's..." The wave fell down into the water like it was a crumbling statue, unnatural for a normal wave. The moonlight returned, illuminating the figure's features as he stood up. Silver and ice blue garments, navy blue knee high boots, silver elbow length gauntlets, a cape made of what seemed to be frost, a strange silver crown with a blue jewel, blond hair with sky blue stripes, and, a shocking feature, eyes as blue as the sea itself.

"Martin?" Mina gasped.

"Oh my Muses..." Elsa mumbled.

"Oh, if it isn't Blue Berry," Gourmand mused. "Nice little dress up you got there. Not to mention the crown or whatever it is." Martin smirked before giving the staff a twirl.

"Well, I don't call this "dress up" Sea Crown for nothing," he answered, taking the staff in both hands. His voice seemed to have lowered just a tone down.

"Sea Crown?" Mina asked under her breath. That's when she noticed what the jewel was. The nymph gasped. "One of the Elemental Crystals!"

Gaston narrowed his eyes at the blue warrior. Martin only gave a cocky grunt in response. "If you think you can just do a little magic trick and stop me, think again!" The chef threw a dough ball at him, only for it to freeze in midair before dropping to the floor, having been frozen. "What?!"

"Do you know one key thing in dough?" Martin asked. "Water. Anything with it or in it, I can command." Gourmand only growled and charged at him with a dipper. With a smirk still upon his face, the Water Guardian blocked with his staff with ease.

Martin protected against each strike, but backed up and soon went off the edge of the boat with Gourmand still trying to land a blow. The chef didn't realize he was above water until he fell in. The blonde chuckled at that. He was standing on the water again!

His team looked shocked, jaws dropped. Martin was raised to the boat's edge and jumped back on. The staff in his hand glowed before changing into his sword. With one slash, he broke the lock on the cage. Mina instantly rushed out and and glomped him, making them both fall over.

"You came! And you did it!" she cheered. "You were in the water! Well, _on_ the water anyway! And you found one of my scepter's crystals!"

"Thanks to a little help from two very special baby turtles," the Water Guardian said. He made a bit of the water rise, carrying the two turtles. They waved.

"Wave!" Clarissa exclaimed. "And who's the other one?"

"Pearl, her little sister."

"Wave is a girl?!" Chris asked in surprise.

"Yep. And Pearl had hydrophobia like I did, but Wave helped her get over it."

"A sea turtle with hydrophobia?" David questioned. "Now I've heard everything." The crew laughed. However, they failed to see Gourmand climbing back onto his boat. As he charged at Martin, the blonde brother quickly blocked an attack from the chef's meat mallet.

The others backed up, not wanting to be banged in the crossfire. Gaston had him at the edge again, but this time, Martin sat on the edge and let himself fall backwards into the sea.

"Huh?" Gourmand looked over and saw nothing. He took a sniff of the air, but only got sea salt. "But that's not possible." The chef continued looking. The team looked worried. Then, Clarissa noticed a trail of water slithering over to where the baby leatherbacks were being kept.

"Guys! Look!" the Lupus Princess called quietly to them. They were shocked when the water rose and shaped itself into... Martin! He looked over at them and signaled them to be quiet. Silently, his hand of WATER grabbed the handle of the water tank. Silently, he moved to the edge of the boat while opening the tank and letting the babies fall out into the gulf. Then his aquatic body fell apart, dropping the tank for it to make a loud clang.

Gourmand looked over. "What?!" The others held their hands up in innocence. Suddenly, the chef was picked up by the hand shaped water, freaking him out. A stream of water opened the deck doors and the hand tossed him down there before closing it.

"It's getting weird here!" Gourmand gulped from under. "Fine! Keep your turtles! I'm outta here!" He hurried to start the engines underneath, as Martin picked his friends and family up and left the boat. The team was surprised that they were standing on a wave!

Some water came together before it faintly glowed blue and Martin stood before the team. Their jaws dropped again.

"What? Never saw a Water Guardian before?" Martin joked, making the others laugh.

* * *

><p>"Weeee!" Mina exclaimed as the team surfed back to shore. They surprisingly didn't need anything to keep them on top. And none of them were getting wet.<p>

"This is amazing, bro!" Chris commented. Seeing everyone having fun, Martin smiled. Everyone hopped off as it fell onto the shore.

"You're back! What happened?" Aviva asked.

"Aviva, you should have seen Martin!" Chris said. "He was so awesome… so tough… so… brave!"

"Aw, shucks bro," Martin said, blushing a bit as he rubbed his temple.

"By the way, where did you get the staff?" David asked.

"Uh, it sort of came with it."

"It looks familiar…" Elsa murmured.

"You call this form Sea Crown?" Mina asked.

"Yup. Sounded nice to me," Martin admitted. "Why?"

"Nothing. I like it."

"Thank you," Pearl said to the Water Guardian. The Kratt in blue picked both little turtles.

"No, dear. I should thank you both for helping me regain my courage," he replied. "Because _being brave isn't just about ignoring fears, but being there to help those in need, especially your friends_."

"Come hewe," Wave asked. He shrugged and bent his head down. Both sisters gave him a turtle kiss on both his cheeks, making him blush lightly. The team lightly laughed at that.

"Well, looks like you're popular with water creatures too," Bite-Size joked. Martin merely rolled his eyes at that.

"Oh… found this whiwe swimmin'. Keep it, pwease." She reached for something and pulled out the small item. It glistened in the moonlight.

"Awe, a pearl. For me? Thank you." Martin smiled at them. "I'll miss you. Both of you." He nuzzled them with tears on his eyes.

The baby turtles saw their sisters in the water, and once Martin placed them in the sand, they started to leave.

"Bye, Wave! Bye, Pearl!" Aviva said.

"Be safe!" Mina called.

"Living free and in the wild," Chris said.

Martin smiled, staring at the moon as he took the crown off. He glowed blue for a moment before appearing in his wetsuit again.

"_Mawtin Kwatt!" _Martin seemed to hear Pearl's voice again. He looked out to the sea, but couldn't see them.

"_Watah Guawdian!" _he heard Wave's voice next. There was no sign of them. "_Yaaay!"_

"Hey bro! We're gonna celebrate! Are you coming?" Chris called. Martin looked towards shore where his brother was waiting. The blonde looked back to the sea.

"That's strange… Oh, well..." He turned around with a smile. "I'm coming, dude." As he walked over, he looked down at the crown and pearl in his hand.


End file.
